I finally figured out why I like Dominic Deegan

[Belisarius]

The writing's bad, the characters are Mary Sues, the art's not particularly great, it's colored in marker, the magic in particular is poorly done and grates of D&D spellcasting ("Remove curse"), but I finally figured out what I like about it.

It's got a combination of magic flipping everywhere, hapless main character who doesn't want to be a hero, optimistic tone (when it's not all angsty), and magic flipping everywhere. I loved the mini-arc where they're travelling, for example. I loved the bit about Stunt and Bumper, even though that got a bit dark. The parts where they hung around and Dominic was a teacher were pure gold, to me. Anything with dead!Siegfried is Awful. The angsty stuff? Not fun. I preferred Dominic as a village oracle with some minor spellcasting.

So I put it to you: is there anything else you could recommend that has some or all of those qualities?

[Trazoi]

If you swap "mad science" for "magic", then Narbonic (http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/narbonic/series.php?view=archive&chapter=9763) might have the feel you're looking for.

Edit: You'll need to plough through the Webcomic Nation formatting though - the website is a pain to navigate.

[Belisarius]

Oooh thanks! This seems good.

[t209]

I'm feeling that action adventure isn't Mookie's speciality. It will be a great comic if he make it like My Little Pony (No offense but I can't find example of slice of life fantasy). Look at first comics, they were decent at best.

[Squark]

While I don't think Mookie's a brony, MLP:FiM's tone and style does seem to actually fit his writing style reasonably well.

[Belisarius]

I'm feeling that action adventure isn't Mookie's speciality. It will be a great comic if he make it like My Little Pony (No offense but I can't find example of slice of life fantasy). Look at first comics, they were decent at best.

I don't really watch MLP. :smallyuk: Are you saying his first comics were the worst?

[t209]

I don't really watch MLP. :smallyuk: Are you saying his first comics were the worst?
No, I used My Little Pony as an example of stories of each character, like Fantasy Slice of Life story.

[Belisarius]

No, I used My Little Pony as an example of stories of each character, like Fantasy Slice of Life story.

Ah, okay. Can you think of any webcomics to recommend that have some of the stuff I like about DD, only less bad?

[Squark]

Hrrm... MLP:FiM is actually pretty close to what you described (apart from Dominic's misanthropic tendencies), actually.

Other stuff you might like...

Rusty and Co. (http://rustyandco.com/) is pretty light hearted, has a nice variety of clever twists on the character's parts, although there isn't much world building going on as of yet. Don't worry about Mimic's accent, though- The author quickly dropped the worst of it.

Homestuck has magic and zaniness out the wazoo, but these days it's getting a good bit darker, as by this point numerous characters have been killed off unceremoniously. Also, the pacing early on suffers from the fact the author was still running it off user driven suggestions (although he does lurk around and read a fair bit of the community, so the influence is still there, just a lot more subtle), and it is very text heavy (all the dialogue is done via chatroom for the longest time, and even now that the characters have actually met up, it still takes the same form). Also, the stable time loops (which are pretty integral to the plot) can take a while to wrap your head around. But it can be a lot of fun. Not everyone's cup of tea, though, certainly.

[Belisarius]

Hey, thanks! Rusty and Co. is really good. Any others?

[Gez]

Magic everywhere, reluctant hero, happy-go-lucky feeling? Cucumber Quest (http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/)! You won't regret it. Also, it's adorable.

Fantasy slice of life with occasional arcs? Flaky Pastry (http://flakypastry.runningwithpencils.com/). Don't mind the non-sequitur title. It's about a goblin, an overpowered elf, and a nerd with cat ears who hates to be called a catgirl.

Magic flipping everywhere, even merry old England? Widdershins (http://www.widdershinscomic.com/).

Other non-grimdark fantasy comics that I recommend include Nimona (http://gingerhaze.com/nimona/comic/page-1), Gastrophobia (http://gastrophobia.com/), Astral Aves (http://astralaves.com/), BS Fantasy (http://www.bsfantasy-comic.com/), Beyond the Canopy (http://beyondthecanopy.com/), Little Guardians (http://www.littleguardianscomic.com/)...

[Belisarius]

Magic everywhere, reluctant hero, happy-go-lucky feeling? Cucumber Quest (http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/)! You won't regret it. Also, it's adorable.

Fantasy slice of life with occasional arcs? Flaky Pastry (http://flakypastry.runningwithpencils.com/). Don't mind the non-sequitur title. It's about a goblin, an overpowered elf, and a nerd with cat ears who hates to be called a catgirl.

Magic flipping everywhere, even merry old England? Widdershins (http://www.widdershinscomic.com/).

Other non-grimdark fantasy comics that I recommend include Nimona (http://gingerhaze.com/nimona/comic/page-1), Gastrophobia (http://gastrophobia.com/), Astral Aves (http://astralaves.com/), BS Fantasy (http://www.bsfantasy-comic.com/), Beyond the Canopy (http://beyondthecanopy.com/), Little Guardians (http://www.littleguardianscomic.com/)...

I think you may be my favorite person of the week. I'm a huge fan of Widdershins already.

[Tvtyrant]

City of Reality (http://cityofreality.com/2009/08/01/01-01-monsters/) is quite good, although it is on hiatus and the folder with his other stuff is... Different. I would stick to the main comic myself.

[Lord Seth]

Dominic Deegan had flaws, but up through the end of Storm of Souls it was still pretty good. It was only after that that the really big flaws in the story presented themselves.

Still, for whatever many problems the comic has, I will say I have respect for him doing it for so long, doing a (for the most part) good job keeping up with his schedule, and it still reaching an actual conclusion. And it seems like enough people enjoy it for him to keep doing it.

[atomicpenguin]

What got me in the beginning was Dominic's thing with Luna. I'm a sucker for cute romance like that and I always loved how Dominic helped Luna through her depression and self-loathing, especially now that she has become a truly extraordinary person and an incredible talent at magic. I also really liked the plots like Storm of Souls. Mookie seems to really hit his stride in Doctor Who-esque conflicts where Dominic approaches the problem like a chess-player, not actually entering the fray per-se but hatching the plan that wins the day. The real problems occurred when Mookie ran out of plots. There was a series of "coming soon on" comics that he did and its been downhill ever since. Part of me wonders why he never did some of those (I'm thinking mostly about the Oracle hunter he hinted at).